The sermon of ‘Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, called the Sermon of Means and Connections — Hadith 1

e one who does not give in comfort will also be refused when in the need, and the one who seeks the honour without being deserving of it will be disgraced, the one who overcomes with injustice will also be overpowered, and the one who opposed the truth will necessitate weakness for himself, and the one who ponders will be dignified, and the one who is arrogant will be belittled, and the one who is not good will not be praised. O you people! The death is (better) before the lowliness, and the endurance before the apathy, and the accounting before the Punishment, and the grave is better than the poverty, lowering the sight is better than looking at a great deal, and the time, a day is for you and a day against you. So if it is for you, do not be ungrateful, and if it is against you, observe patience. So with both of them you will be Examined. (And in another copy – ‘And with both of them you will be Tested’) O you people! The strangest of what is in the human being is his heart, and in it are matters of wisdom and the antibodies to the one who opposes it. When there is prosperity for him, greed humiliates him, and if greed excites him, the thriftiness destroys him, when despair overpowers him, the remorse kills him, and when the anger presents itself, the rage intensifies, and when he is happy and satisfied he forgets to conserve, and when fear seizes him he gets preoccupied by caution, and when security is widened for him his honour makes him complacent (and in another copy ‘pride takes him over’), and when new bounties come up for him pride takes him over, and when he is benefitted by money his richness makes him oppressive, and when poverty bites him he is preoccupied by the affliction (and in another copy ‘he strives in the weeping’), and when he is inflicted by hardship anxiety injures him, and when the hunger exhausts him he is disabled by the weakness, and when he over-eats he is upset by indigestion, so every deficiency is harmful to him, and every excess spoils him. O you people! The one who is miserly will be disgraced and the one who is generous will be the master, and the one who increases his wealth becomes the leader and the one who increases his forbearance becomes noble, and the one who ponders regarding the Essence of Allah (azwj) becomes an Atheist, and the one who frequents in something becomes known for it, and the one frequently jokes will be taken lightly, and the one who frequently laughs his prestige goes away, the one who has no ethics will corrupt. The best deed is the maintenance of honour by wealth.